The Process of Cultural Adaptation

Oct 2024
Written by – Willem van Hoorn
The topic of this blog post, for a change, is not specifically related to settling into the Netherlands and finding your feet here. On the contrary: it is quite a generic topic. It could happen to Dutch people just as well. Provided, that is, that they move to another country.
In this episode, I will discuss the so-called ‘process of cultural adaptation’. Going through such a process is reported by many who move to another country for a longer period of time, as is the case with many readers of this blog. Do note the word ‘longer’, please. Two weeks of sunbathing in a nice resort somewhere along the shores of the Mediterranean do not count here. Most people who do so will simply never get out of the ‘tourist bubble’. But many who move abroad for work or for study report going through a period of adaptation to the new host culture, one way or the other.
Some authors who write about this topic use the word ‘culture shock’ for the experience. For me: despite that it may feel like a shock indeed, at times, I do prefer the term ‘cultural adaptation’. It describes better what is going on: a process. The term ‘culture shock’ feels like something static: it hits you and that is that. Whereas ‘cultural adaptation’ implies something more dynamic. Usually, it has a distinct beginning, it has a direction in time and, as it progresses, it has certain outcomes.
The theory about cultural adaptation describes what many experience after moving into a new culture. Usually, that is a country’s culture, but it can also happen, for instance, when you change employer, and the new company or organization has a totally different company culture than the previous one.
When you plot ‘well-being’ versus ‘time’, of someone who is acclimatizing to a new culture, this is often what you will see:
Note that, in daily reality, the above graph won’t look as smooth as this one. On a nice and sunny day, when people are kind to you, you will likely be more ‘up’, and on a gloomy day with people around you being grumpy, you might be more ‘down’. But on average this is the pattern.
Phases
The mathematician who looks at the above graph will probably say: “Hey, that looks like part of a sinus curve; maybe we can append different phases to it”? And she could not be more right. The specialists behind the cultural adaptation theory have indeed attributed different phases to the process.
Most people move gradually forward from one phase into the next. Not in a linear way, mind you. Two steps forward and one back is already quite an achievement. And some days it may be the other way around. But over time, most do move forward.
The distinct phases in cultural adaptation are usually called:
  1. Honeymoon (or ‘tourist phase’)
  2. Reality check (or ‘negotiation’)
  3. Depression & Anxiety
  4. Adjustment
  5. Mastery

In the honeymoon phase (like all newly wedded) you are in love with the new country or organization. Expectations are high, everybody is apparently willing to help, there are so many exciting new things to discover, and so forth. Why didn’t you think of coming here years ago?!?

During the reality check you find out that not everything that glitters is gold. And not everything glitters, by the way. On the one hand, you will start missing the people at home, the food from home, and the routines. On the other hand, you may find that the more subtle and hidden dos and don’ts of the new host culture, if you notice them at all, are more difficult to incorporate into your mindset and behavioral repertoire than expected.

Yes, everybody is willing to help, but only during office hours. Rightfully or not, you may sometimes feel excluded. You can’t engage in meetings as fast and as deep as you could at home, because the inner workings are different, and so is the language. What on earth is the meaning of that product label in the supermarket? Mysterious traffic rules! And so on.
The different phases of cultural adaptation. Do note that the time involved may easily take (well) over one year.

The phase of depression and anxiety often has two distinct characteristics. And these two may swap from day to day, or even from hour to hour. During moments this phase hits inwards, people may feel inadequate: ‘I must be doing something wrong, because I haven’t adapted yet. It is all my fault’ (forgetting for the moment that adaptation is not a switch you can flip).

During moments it hits outwards, it might easily translate as hostility towards the new host culture (*): ‘Those stupid Dutchmen with their this and their that’! You may wonder ‘Why on earth did I make the disastrous choice to come here in the first place’?!?
It is indeed particularly during this phase that some make the decision: ‘it is not going to work, we’re going back home’.
(*) Between you and me: you may blame your new host culture if it makes you feel better, but on a fundamental level it is not their fault.

For most who stay on, the adaptation phase that follows will gradually make things better. The inner workings of the host culture gradually become more transparent. Part of the local dos and don’ts will become incorporated into your behavior. Others may get the label ‘it will never be my thing, but I know that it is how the game is being played here’. And that in itself is a form of acceptance: you stop pushing back or holding off. And the energy that was needed for that is set free and will be at your disposal again for more creative and constructive things.

As you move through this phase, the positive sides of the new host culture, which may have been lost from sight in the previous phase, will be discovered once again, but now often on a deeper level. Things that you know you would never ‘do at home’, but here it works, and they are actually quite interesting or helpful.

Regarding the final phase of adaptation, the Mastery phase, the specialists differ a bit in opinion. They agree that in and beyond this phase you more or less ‘master’ the whereabouts of the (no longer so new) host culture. Hence the name of this phase. But they disagree whether you can become totally bi-cultural (just as skilled in your original home culture as in the current one). Some argue you can, while others state that you will always have one distinct home culture, and one host culture, albeit that you will feel comfortable enough in the latter to call it something like ‘home’.

Why This Info?
You may wonder why I’m telling you all this. You may have just arrived, or maybe you are even reading this post while still moving here in the future. And it may feel like I am trying to scare the living daylights out of you 😨.
Believe me: I am not. On the contrary! I guess the key message of this post is that if you experience the ‘symptoms’ of cultural adaptation: don’t blame yourself. It is not your fault! It is a normal reaction to the abnormal circumstances of migration.
My suggestion would be that you find others like you, and share what you are going through. Support one another, and exchange tips and tricks. Find role models: people who’ve been here longer, and learn from them how they coped, how they found new ground. It will definitely help you! (#)
Reverse Adaptation
Shortly I will be ending this post. But not before I mention one last aspect of cultural adaptation. The so-called ‘reverse adaptation’ (or ‘re-entry shock’). Over the years I have heard many international friends and colleagues report something of the sort. Reverse adaptation may occur when you go back home, after being abroad for a longer time. You might expect: finally things will be ‘normal’ again. Well, there’s a fair chance they will not! For the simple reason that you have changed, and home has not. Or not in the same direction.
Believe it or not, but after some years in (in this case) the Netherlands, you will have ‘Dutchified’, to a certain extent 🇳🇱. And you may say or do things that people at home will ask: ‘Excuse me, what did you just say’? And you might now look at your home culture through (semi) Dutch eyes, and have something like ‘Now, this is odd!’ And you may find it difficult to truly share your experiences abroad with the people back home, ironically often the ones closest to you! Because they do not have your frame of reference. They have not ‘been there and done that’.
I am sure that you will know how to deal with this, too, somehow. But I did want to mention it. Something like: don’t say I didn’t say it😉.
I wish you a fruitful adaptation process!

(#) It is particularly for this purpose of exchanging experiences, tips & tricks, and meeting role models, that a new discussion channel was created in the ESI Online Platform here. We warmly invite you to share your stories and ideas and to listen to the stories of others.

Not a member of the Platform yet? You can request access here.
Image: Andreas Shikora, through WikiMedia Commons
Willem van Hoorn

Willem van Hoorn

He worked as a Policy Advisor Internationalization at Eindhoven University of Technology. He has led several projects and initiatives in the Brainport region to achieve integration and internationalization. When he’s not reading or writing, Willem is often brainstorming for innovative ideas, connecting with others, or bicycling towards the coast. He is an exceptional Dutch Culture Expert and Storyteller!